Governor Noor’s Plane Was ‘Not Allowed’ to Fly to Kandahar

Atta Mohammad Noor, the powerful governor of Balkh province and Chief Executive of Jamiat party says he was not allowed to fly from Mawlana Jalaluddin Balkhi airport in Mazar-e-Sharif City to Kandahar in the south.

Noor who was accompanied by Batur Dostum, son of the First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, wanted to attend a political gathering in Kandahar province on Friday.

“We wanted to attend at a gathering in Kandahar province and meet with [political figures] to reach an understanding, but unfortunately the government leadership did not allow us to fly to Kandahar,” Noor said as he was leaving the airport after waiting for one and a half hour inside the plane.

He called the move by the government as “illegal, inhuman and immoral” and added that it was not in favor of the country and the people.

Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority in a statement put the blame on Resolute Support for not allowing Noor’s flight to take off to Kandahar.

According to a statement released on Friday morning, the flight was cancelled due to lack of facilities for night flights in Kandahar Airport and requirement for further coordination with NATO troops in the airport.

The statement added that there are possibilities for governor Noor and his entourage to travel during the day.

Kandahar meeting was postponed for Saturday after Noor and Batur Dostum didn’t made to the province on Friday.

The organizers of the meeting during a press conference give the government 12 hours of ultimatum to let their northern guests arrive or they adopt severe decisions.